


In Another Life

by AgentHawk11



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Accidental Marriage, Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Kid Fic, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2020-12-09 15:08:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20996825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentHawk11/pseuds/AgentHawk11
Summary: That’s what was scaring him more, the fact that he didn’t have the urge to freak out. He’s woken up in a home he doesn’t recognize, in bed with his best friend, that he just realized he’s married to, looking at photos he’s never taken, and he’s not freaking out. He didn’t know what to do with that.





	1. What The Fuck?

**Author's Note:**

> Omg, am I actually writing something with some plot and substance? Hopefully, we’ll see how this goes.
> 
> I actually don’t know where the idea for this came from, but I love this trope. I hope you enjoy!

The building was encased in a bright orange glow. Visibility was almost nonexistent as Buck and Eddie searched. It seemed to be abandoned, but Bobby still ordered a sweep as it was popular building for homeless, transients, and squatters. Because of that, it was suspected to be arson, consistent with several other arsons to buildings similar to it.

“Clear.” Eddie said after doing a walk through of a room on the second floor.

“Alright, one last room and we can get the hell-” Buck fell silent as he felt the wood breaking under his feet. 

“Buck what-” Eddie said as he saw Buck freeze, the wood creaking as he walked slowly.

“Eddie wait don’t!” Buck screamed out, knowing what would happen as she as Eddie’s foot touch that part of the floor. Before either of them had a chance to move, the floor gave in under them, sending them down to the first floor concrete.

XXXXX

Eddie inhaled deeply as he shot up, the action lending to his pounding headache. He was confused as he took in his surroundings. Gone were the flames and the screams of their teammates in his ear, instead he was in bed. He studied the strange red comforter and creme colored sheets. A bed that was not his. He looked under the covers at his clothes. His uniform had been replaced by a plain white muscle shirt and navy blue shorts.

He heard moans and turned his head to see there was someone next him with their back turned. So he was a obviously not alone. The body turned towards him in it’s slumber, letting him see the face of his best friend. Even with all the confusion, seeing Buck’s face filled him with a sense of calm, but it created 20 more questions. What the fuck happened?

“Eddie?” Buck asked, voice thick with sleep. “Eddie!” Buck shot up in the bed and surprised him by pulling him into a hug, before Eddie could respond he pulled back, the look in his eyes excited and intense, “you’re okay!” The look in his eyes changed to confusion, “wait, you’re okay? How are you okay?” Buck took a second to take in their surrounding, “didn’t we fall through the floor of a building? I remember that happening. Where are we? This can’t be a hospital.”

“Yeah, definitely not a hospital,” Eddie commented as he looked around at the mahogany bedroom furniture that he didn’t remember belonging to either of them.

Buck threw the covers off of himself and Eddie and examined himself. “I don’t appear to have any injuries,” he saw his normal body scars and the surgery scars on his leg, “no more than normal anyway.”

Eddie didn’t say anything as he got out of bed to have a closer look at the photos he spotted on the dresser. There were three: one of him, Chris, Buck at his initiation ceremony that he remembered taking; one of him, Chris, and Buck, with Buck holding a baby, looked to be newborn, swaddled in a pink blanket; and the last one... Eddie’s throat caught. He picked up the photo and held it closer. It was what looked to be a professional wedding photo, by the quality of the photo and the way they were dressed, of the two of them. If that wasn’t enough to prove it, the matching gold bands on their fingers were in clear view of the camera.  Wait...

Still holding on the photo, he checked his left hand to see the same band in the photo on his ring finger. He felt like he should be freaking out, but he was frozen, not knowing how he felt about this at the moment. That’s what was scaring him more, the fact that he didn’t have the urge to freak out. He’s woken up in a home he doesn’t recognize, in bed with his best friend, that he just realized he’s married to, looking at photos he’s never taken, and he’s not freaking out. He didn’t know what to do with that. Instead, he was just gonna do what he did best, figure out what the fuck was going on.

Eddie sighed. “Dude, I don’t remember taking this photo,” turning towards Buck, he sees him holding a photo from the night stand on his side of the bed. Eddie felt chills at that. Buck held it up and it was another one of just the two of them. As he held up the photo Eddie didn’t miss what he was looking for: the gold band on Buck’s left hand.

“Nope can’t say that I do, either. I don’t remember any of these,” Eddie jerked his thumb behind him towards the photos, “except one. Especially this one,” walking back over to the side of the bed, Eddie lightly tossed the photo towards Buck. Eddie stuffed his hands in his pockets as he waited.

The shock on Buck’s face as he lifted the photo said everything. Much like Eddie, Buck looked at the photo, then noticed the band on his hand. “I... um... what?” Buck swallowed audibly around the lump forming in his throat, “are we... are we married?”

Eddie took his left hand out of his pocket and held it up, “looks like it,” he said as calmly as he could. He just kept repeating to himself that they were going to figure this out.

“Oh my god,” Buck scrubbed his hands over his face and stared at Eddie. Eddie didn’t no what to say at the moment, so he settled on nothing as he watched Buck start to pace.

“Eddie, what’s happening? What is this? Where are we?”

“I have no idea, but we need to find out.”

“How? We don’t even know how we got here,” Buck looked around the bedroom, “or where here even is. I don’t recognize any of this stuff being yours or mine.”

“Well, let’s start with what we know. Based on the photos, it seems we are firefighters, still or too,” he said slowly as he turned back towards the dresser, eyes drifting back to the middle picture.

“Hey, what are you looking at?” Buck asked as he walked over to him. “Woah, who’s baby is that?”

As much as he didn’t want to admit to himself, especially with him still clueless as to what was going, to chain of events were leading to one obvious answer. He could be wrong, a part that was bigger than it probably should have been hoped that he wasn’t. He’d delve further into that once he gave himself to really think this whole crazy situation through. For now he’s compartmentalizing it in the back of his mind like he’s done most of his feelings thus far.

Eddie was going to share his thoughts with Buck when they both heard the sound a crying sound. “Am I going crazy or is that a baby crying?” Buck asked.

“Given our current situation, we both might be going crazy, but I hear it, too.” Eddie walked towards the door on the other side of the room, where it sounded like the cries were coming from.

“So, I take it that isn’t a bathroom or closet,” Buck joked drily. The nervousness could be heard in his voice as he trailed behind him towards the door.

Eddie took a deep breath before a slightly trembling hand turned the nob. They found the door led to a beautiful nursery. Eddie was frozen in admiration while Buck moved towards the crying baby. The walls were a light purple with the furniture and crib being white wood. The color scheme is kept throughout everything else in the room, blankets, covers, and the like. The open closet housed a number of clothes. Stuffed animals and other toys could be seen throughout the room. What really caught his attention was the stenciled lettering above the crib that read  **Celina Buckley-Diaz**.  The letters were written in white cursive surrounded by moon and stars. Well, that answers that question.

Moving his focus towards the child, who’s cries had turned to whimpers upon seeing them, Eddie saw her standing in the crib, making “grabby hands” at Buck and saying what sounded like “dada”. The way she was standing almost unaided made Eddie think that she had to be over one year old, most likely less than two, so one and a half, maybe. Buck appeased the child by picking her up. The chil - Celina - had settled into to Buck and her cries stoped instantly. Eddie watched as Buck unconsciously smiled down at her and she smiled back, reached up and put a hand to his face.

“So, we’re married with a kid, well, kids including Chris?” Buck tested the words, eerily calm. “I’m a father.” He watched a range of emotions cross Buck’s face as looked at Celina.

“That’s what this is looking like.” Eddie answered back as he walked over to both of them. Taking a closer look at her, he saw how much she looked like him, having his nose, dark brown hair, tanned skin, and hazel eyes. He couldn’t resist running his thumb along her soft cheek. It caused her to let out one of the sweetest giggles he thinks he’s ever heard.

Eddie tore his eyes away from Celina to meet Buck’s, who was already looking at him. He wasn’t sure what he was seeing in them, he just knew it was most likely behind these feeling of warmth coursing through this body. He knew he really need to examine what all of this meant to him. Later. Tearing his eyes away and stepping back, breaking the connection, Eddie put his mind back on the task at hand: figuring what the fuck was going on.

Clearing his throat, “I think we should explore the rest of the home.”

Buck looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, “yeah, yeah. I was thinking the same thing. I mean, it couldn’t hurt,” Buck looked down at the baby still in his arms, “we might also need to find this one some food,” Celina was trying to put the necklace Buck had on in her mouth. “Is that it, baby? Are you hungry?” Celina nodded. “You are?” Buck asked the baby exaggeratedly, “well we need to do something about that.”

Eddie shouldn’t be surprised at how good the baby was with the baby. Buck’s always been amazing with children. It was just seeing the two of them interact took it to another level. “Ready?” He asked Buck.

“I have no idea.” Eddie felt the exact same. 

The two of them and Celina exited the nursery, back into the bedroom, and out into the hall. Looking around, the home looked to be pretty sizable for a one level. It couldn’t be an apartment. The walls were standard beige, wood floors. Eddie opened the door to the room next to theirs and saw it was a bathroom, based on the toiletries on the counter and clothing haphazardly thrown around, it was probably theirs.

“That’s gotta be Chris’s room,” Buck said as he pointed to a room towards on the other side of the hall, “I’d know that poster anywhere. I just got it for him last week.” Eddie recognized it to. When they walked to the room and opened the door, it was semi clean and empty, but completely recognizable. From what he could see he knew everything in it belonged to his son.

“The first thing we’ve finally recognized in this place,” Eddie couldn’t tell if that made him feel better or not. They were all deep involved in whatever this was. “Let’s keep going, hopefully they’ll be some other stuff they recognize.”

Eddie was wrong. As they continued on, they’d found the house was a beautiful, spacious 4 bedroom. Each area more unrecognizable than the last. Though, it had everything, really: kitchen with modern appliances and marble counters, living room with a fireplace, dining room, electronics all over the place, a big front and back yard with apool, even a play room for the kids. It was a dream home, if Eddie were being completely honest with himself. A home he’d dreamed of for Christopher and didn’t think he’d ever be able to afford. Maybe, this was what this all was, a highly elaborate dream. The thought’s been crossing his mind on and off since they “woke up.”

As Buck if was reading his thoughts, he said, “maybe this is some super detailed strange dream. This is way too much to be a prank,” one of Eddie’s initial thoughts was that it could be a prank. He quickly abandoned that for the same reason.

“Yeah, maybe. Only thing is who’s dream is it and why do we seem to be sharing it?” The implications that this was a life that either of them would dream about overwhelmed him. He flopped down on the couch and sighed in frustration.

“I have no idea,” Buck said as Celina started to become fussy in his arms. “Oh yeah, we need to get you something to eat.” He looked towards Eddie, “can you take her while I look and see if Dreamland provided us with food?”

Eddie huffed out a laugh, “yeah, give her here. I got her.” Eddie said as he took the squirmy baby from Buck. Eddie leaned back in the plush couch and bounced the baby on his thighs to distract her. “Do you know what’s going on, baby girl?” He got a couple of babbles in response before she stuck two fingers in her mouth. “Yeah, I didn’t think you did.”

He spotted the black laptop on the coffee table in front of him and got an idea. “Maybe, this will have something on it that’ll explain what’s going on.” Eddie settled the baby on his lap, comfortably and flipped up the top. A family photo of the four of them stared back at him. Eddie clicked on the photos icon and scanned through the saved photos. Their were a lot of Chris and Celina. Their friends and family appeared in a lot and some other kids that he didn’t recognize. So their lives were the same, but key details had been altered, he guessed. He came across a video. He clicked on it and saw Buck holding Celina with a cake in front of them, Eddie could hear his voice out of frame so he must have been filming, as everyone sang “Happy Birthday”. Celina babbled in recognition. “do you remember that?” He asked her. 

He closed out the video and photos, noticing a blinking reminder in the corner. When he clicked on it, a color coded reminder list popped up telling him to not forget the cake for the party at Bobby and Athena’s on Saturday. He read another reminder for the day about Christopher spending the day with Abuela. It was comforting to know that they had the support of their family and friends in this... this... he wasn’t sure what to call it. This other life?

Another few minutes had passed and Buck hadn’t returned, “you okay in there? Did you get lost?”

As soon as the question was out his mouth, Buck returned with an arm full of food: a few jars of baby food, a couple of sandwiches, and a jar of pickles, and big bag of chips. He placed all of the food on the coffee table and sat in the armchair. “This place is decked out. We’ve got food for weeks.”

“Buck this isn’t some vacation,” Eddie told him without looking away from the screen. 

“I know that, I wasn’t saying it like it was,” Buck opened one of the jars of baby food and closer so he could feed Celina. “It’s just, something about this feels more permanent than it probably should.” Buck paused.

Eddie closed the top to the laptop down and looked at him, “yeah, I get that. I feel like that, too. I can’t, for the life of me figure out what’s going on or what any of this means.” He watched as Buck feed Celina. The baby was happy to be eating, completely oblivious to what was happening around her.

“I don’t wanna say this, but...”

“But...”

Buck sighed. “You don’t think we’re dead and this is like heaven,” Buck looked around, “or hell? But this is too nice to be hell, right?” He had a hard time trying to decipher if this was pleasure or torture himself.

Eddie would be remiss if he didn’t admit the possibility wasn’t one of his initial thoughts. He didn’t want to give the thought much weight, not wanting to think about the possibility, about leaving Christopher. His catholic upbringing and views on the afterlife not withstanding, he wasn’t sure if he believed in all of that anyway. He just didn’t think that’s what this was. “I don’t think that what this is.”

“I don’t wanna think that’s what this is. So what is it then? Are we delusional? Is this some shared delusion?” Buck finished feeding Celina and she wanted to be let down to get to get to toys she had in the living room.

“I honestly don’t know what this is.” They watched fondly as Celina toddled over to the indoor playhouse that was kept in the living room.

Eddie heard Buck’s gasp and tore his eyes away from Celina to find him wide eyed, “what?”

“Remember that movie we watched last week with Chris. You don’t think...”

Eddie knew exactly where this was going, “Buck, no.”

“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

“I absolutely do, because I remember the movie. No. No, we were not magically transported to some alternate life to be thought some big lesson. This isn’t some subpar Hallmark movie,” Eddie said incredulously. 

“I mean, it’s possible.” Buck mumbled as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat.

“No, it not.” Eddie raised his brow.

“Dude, look around. We’re in a literal dream home, married, and have a baby with both of our last names. We are so far beyond what we thought was possible, that anything is possible at this point,” Eddie had to admit that Buck had a point, Do you have another explanation for this?”

“Well, no, but-” Eddie was interrupted by a knock at the door.


	2. Stage of Shock: Progressive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I’ve taken the time to respond to all that have commented individually, but I just want to say an overall, resounding THANK YOU to all that have left kudos, subscribed, bookmarked, and just plain stopped by to read it. When I say this is the most enthusiastic response I have ever received on anything I’ve ever written, I mean it. Some of of you have even found me on Tumblr (which is @loveistherootofhappiness - you know FYI) to let me know what you thought of the story. There is so much appreciation for all of it, all of you, and I hope my little story continues to keep your interest.
> 
> Alright, on to what really matters. Let’s see what’s going on with the fire fam and our fave confused boys turned #teamtwodads.
> 
> Enjoy!

Something was wrong, Bobby was sure of it. He wouldn’t call what he was feeling fear, necessarily, just a strengthening feeling that something was off. The feeling was punctuated by the random chill that ran through him as he waited for Buck and Eddie to finish the sweep. Which wouldn’t be alarming if it wasn’t a 92 degree, humid California evening. He’d been tamping down on the feelings so it wouldn’t affect his focus, hoping that whatever this was was unfounded.

Unfortunately, things in his life didn’t work that way. It all started when he heard Buck scream into the comms not to do it. Next was the sound of what he more than assumed was the floor caving in. Buck and Eddie yelled out as the wood could be hurt splintering and breaking. It was the last thing he heard before the static took over, signaling that the comms had hit something.

“This is Captain Bobby Nash to Edmundo Diaz. Firefighter Diaz please respond with your status,” He tried. “This is Captain Bobby Nash to Evan Buckley. Firefighter Buckley please respond with you status,” Bobby noticed that their other teammates had gathered around him. “Firefighter Buckley, Firefighter Diaz, respond.” The answering silence was expected. He knew his efforts were futile but he had to try, to hope.

Whatever he did now had to be strategic. There were two lives on the line. He had to abandon all emotion and be Captain Nash. Sending a small prayer up to god for their safety, he went to work. He needed to execute a rapid search and rescue maneuver in a highly volatile situation, meaning act in a way that rescued Buck and Eddie without, hopefully, putting anymore of his team in harm’s way. Buck said that he had one more room left, they’d been heading east towards the front stair case, so when the collapse happened they’d be not too far from the entrance. “Captain Nash to Firefighters Jackson and Darby,” he called to the two that were spraying water on opposite sides of the building, “I need both of you concentrating your efforts to the front of the building for the time being.”

“Got it, Cap.” Both answered without question. He knew he wouldn’t have to explain the gravity of the situation to either of them.

“In the next 20 seconds, Wilson, James, Ashimi, I need you guys with me ready to get in there.” Bobby knew he had a limited amount of time, but removing some of the hazard would buy them a little time and cut down on endangering any one else. “Okay, let’s go. And guys, be careful,” he told them when the time came.

As they approached and entered the building, some of the fire around the area had been contained but visibility was still low due to residual smoke. There’s nothing but black char where windows and doors used to be. Flecks of orange kissed there skin where the blaze still burn in other areas. He did a quick scan of the area when he spots the speck of bright yellow about 20 feet ahead of him. “Over there,” Bobby said as he pointed to the area he spotted them.

“Yeah, Cap, we see ‘em.” Hen said as they all rushed over. He looked down at Buck and Eddie’s completely still, soot covered faces. Bobby released a breath he did realize he’d been holding when he saw their chests rising and falling. Their bodies weren’t contorted in any weird positions, so he’d take that as a win. Though, with them being flat on their backs and how far they fell, head and neck injuries were highly probable, so they needed to be extra careful. “Jack and I, will get Buck, you two get Eddie.” Everyone nodded in agreement. They lifted the two of them and exited the building, careful of any debris. Once they got outside EMT were waiting with gurneys to transport them.

After placing their bodies on the gurneys and letting the EMTs take over, Bobby whipped off his helmet and wiped sweat from his brow. It was always hard when one of their own got hurt. This one hurt even worse. Don’t get him wrong, he loved his team and everyone on it, but the bond he shared with those two, especially Buck, was unlike any other.

“Go, Bobby, to the hospital with them,” Hen told him. Bobby looked unsure for a moment, “we got this. We’ll finish working the scene and meet you at the hospital. And I’ll call Chim and Maddie to let them know what happened.” Bobby nodded at that, contented with the fact that he knew Hen was completely capable of taking charge in his absence. Rushing over to the ambulance they’d placed Buck, he was let in right before they closed the door and drove off.

Bobby was one that believed in the power of prayer. Strongly. Letting go and letting God, and all of that. Faith had gotten him through some of the darkest times in his life. He’d gone through his ritual of praying for both of them and having faith that their care was in the most capable hands. It usually made him feel better and at ease with the situation. This time it didn’t. He didn’t know what it was, but something about this was still unsettling to him. Bobby couldn’t tell if it was because Buck hadn’t woken up or the fact that he heard the whole ordeal was still bothering him. Most of him knew that Buck and Eddie were going to be okay. He had faith in that. But no matter how much faith and trust he had, this underlying feeling would not leave him be.

XXXXX

Buck jumped at the sound of the door, not expecting anyone, obviously. He found himself backing up and looking around the room for anything he could use as a weapon. He knew it was a little irrational, but neither of them knew what to expect from whatever this was. They could never be too careful. To his credit, he saw Eddie still sitting on the couch, hesitant to move.

Eddie’s eyes met his clearly unsettled ones, he shrugged his shoulders, and got up to head towards the door. “What are you doing?” Buck got in front of him to stop him.

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

The person knocked again and Eddie moved around Buck. “We don’t know who that is.” 

“That’s why I’m opening the door,” Buck’s mind was moving a mile a minute with different scenarios. What if it’s someone from alternate Buck and Eddie’s life who they won’t recognize? What if it’s someone that wants to harm them? It’s suspicious that someone would show up when they were really starting to discuss what was going on. Buck’s eyes went wide. What if they were asking too many questions? They’d - well, he’d - already established that anything was possible. By the time the thought had crossed his mind Eddie had reached the door and was opening it. 

His level of overreaction dropped when he saw it was Bobby on the other side of it. Buck smiled softly as a feeling of calm washed over him. He was contented by the fact that it wasn’t someone that was going to hurt them and glad to see a familiar face. Being around Bobby always gave him clarity when he needed it. Not this time, though, as Buck kept reminding himself that this was not his Bobby.

“Is there a reason that the two of you aren’t answering your phones?” Bobby asked as he bypassed Eddie and entered the home without waiting for an answer, clearly familiar with the surroundings. “Athena’s been trying to call you guys all morning, but you weren’t answering. I told her that I come over here and make sure you guys were still alive,” Bobby explained further. The fact that Bobby had to phrase it like that was not helping Buck in the slightest.

As Bobby stood near the couch, Celina, who had not too long ago abandoned her toys to see what was going on, started saying “Baba” excitedly. Buck and Eddie watched as Celina got up and toddled over to Bobby as fast as her little legs would carry her. Bobby bent down to her level and opened his arms, waiting for her. As soon as she reached her he lifted her up and said excitedly, “there’s my girl!” He kissed her on the cheek, “what are your dads feeding you?” He tickled her belly and Celina giggled. “Someone’s grown since Mimi and I saw you last weekend?”

Buck found himself smiling at the scene. It was truly everything he could have hoped for. He knew he wanted Bobby to be a big part of it when he finally settled down and started a family. By how happy Celina seemed to be, it was more than obvious she spent a lot of time with him. He still knew they needed to figure this out, but he stored this little scene in the back of his mind as a possibility all the same.

Looking over at Eddie he found him smiling as well. When their eyes met, he mouthed, “Mimi?” Buck shrugged his shoulders in silent answer. He had a pretty good idea of who he wanted Mimi to be, but he knew better than to assume anything about any of this. Still, “Mimi?” was out his mouth before he knew it.

He’d caught on to the fact he’d said the question aloud when Bobby looked at him and huffed out a chuckle, “you know Athena is not gonna let the baby call her grandma or any other variation.” Buck swallowed down the sound that threatened to leave his throat. The fact that Bobby and Athena were what seemed to be surrogate “grandparents” to his kid, he couldn’t help the pride he felt.

“Oh right, yeah, makes sense,” Buck settled on.

As he held on to a very happy Celina, Bobby looked around, “where’s Christopher?”

“Um, he...” Buck stumbled over his words, unsure of how to answer.

“He’s spending the day with his Abuela.” Eddie said smoothly. Too smoothly. Buck knows Eddie well enough to know when he’s lying. This was not a lie. So how the fuck did he know that?

“How did you know that?” Buck asked aloud, not thinking it through. Eddie cut his eyes at him, Buck ignored it still looking at him expectantly for an answer.

“Buck, you remember, Abuela came and picked her up this morning.” Eddie told him in a higher pitched tone. Buck took in his tone and saw the small twitches of his fingers as he ran a hand threw his hair. Telltale signs that he was lying. That still didn’t answer his question of how he knew where Christopher was. He was about to say something along those lines when he remembered what they needed to do.

Buck let it drop and said, “oh yeah, right,” shelving the question for when they were alone again. It seemed that him and Eddie were thinking along the same lines. Buck was thinking that it could benefit them to play along with whatever this life was offering.

“Buck, we’ve had this discussion. I need you to know where your children are,” Bobby said as he chuckled at a memory they were supposed to be sharing, “your daddy is silly, isn’t he?” Bobby said in a soft voice to Celina. Celina babbled in what sounded like agreement. He sat down on the couch and settled Celina against his lap. She was more than content to just lay against his chest. “So, I take it the busy morning was the reason that phones weren’t answered?”

They both knew better than to not take an opportunity when it presented itself, “oh, yeah,” Buck said quickly, “a lot going on with Chris and her and stuff,” he trailed off fearing he’d draw suspicion if he said to much. He looked to see Eddie rolling his eyes.

“Well, alright. I’ll accept that answer.” A familiar ding could be heard, signaling an incoming text message. Bobby pulled out his cellphone, Celina looked at the screen as if she were reading what was on it as well. “Athena wants to know if I’ve found you guys,” he said aloud. He typed a quick message and got a response less than a minute later. “She says if you guys do that again, she’ll kill you both. And I’m being summoned back home.” He said as he rose from the couch. Bobby leaned the baby over towards Eddie, whom he was closest to, Celina reached her little arms out, and Eddie took her willingly.

“Well guys, I’m glad to see you doing well. Please answer your phones when we call you.” Bobby said, walking towards the front door and opening it.

“Got it,” Buck responded as they both followed.

Bobby paused when he crossed the threshold and without turning around asked, “are you guys still good for the party on Saturday?”

Buck squinted his eyes in confusion and was about to ask what he was talking about when Eddie jumped in, “yeah, of course. Wouldn’t miss it!” He said. Buck noted that, again, he spook smoothly.

“Great! See all of you then.” They both walked through the door to see him off. Buck watched as he walked to his car, the sleek grey Tesla being far nicer than either of the cars he remembered Bobby and Athena having. Maybe Dreamland was good to everyone. As Eddie stood next to him, he leaned down towards Celina, “can you say bye bye to Baba?” She did respond by saying the words, also opening and closing her fist in an attempted wave.

As Bobby pulled out the driveway and drove down the street, Buck took the opportunity to take in the neighborhood. The clear blue sky and lowering mid afternoon sun was the perfect backdrop as he scanned around. From what he could see from his walkway, the houses held a similar look to their own. Though they varied in size, they all had the same defining qualities: nice, well kept yards, even nicer cars in the driveways. It was truly the picture perfect neighborhood, the kind anyone would want to live in, raise kids in. That’s what was puzzling Buck the most: what could all of this mean? After he met Abby, he finally started to think about what life would be like if he settled down and he’s thought about it on and off since. Nothing he’d dream up was anything compared to this. This was, by all fronts, for lack of better wording, perfect.

He look beside him to see Eddie doing the same, pointing out objects, like birds and trees, and rocks, to Celina, and teaching her how to say them. He’d praise her and she’d clap, so proud of herself for winning her fath- Eddie’s approval. He smiled at the scene, ignoring the rather loud voice in his head telling him not to get attached to Celina, to remember that this was not his life, that they needed to figure out what was going on. Instead, he thought about how good they were with Celina, how he didn’t really mind any of this, how he could get used to this. Well, there’s something he needed to examine.

“Evan!” Eddie yelled, bringing him out of his thoughts. 

Slightly startled, he met Eddie’s eyes quickly and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his black and red shorts. “Huh, what?”

“I said we need to find our phones they might give us some more insight into whatever this is.” Eddie said as he looked at Buck carefully, “you okay?”

“Oh yeah, yeah, I’m good.” He sighed deeply and made a show of looking around, “just thinking, taking it all in, you know.” It wasn’t a lie as much as it was a half truth.

“Yeah, I get that. I’m doing the same.” Eddie adjusted Celina in his arms to get a better hold on her and began to walk back in the house. “Whatever this is, it’s certainly detailed and, honestly, not half bad.” Buck knew Eddie’s comment was off hand as he walked in the home and closed the door, but that didn’t stop the small smile from gracing his face. Maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t alone in his line of thinking after all.

Buck made his way back through the living room and sat on the couch next to Eddie. Upon seeing him, Celina was trying to crawl over Eddie’s lap to get to him. Buck reached out his hand and Celina reached out a hand and whined when he wasn’t getting her fast enough. Buck pulled the baby from Eddie’s arms and into his. Celina was very happy to now have his attention. “Well, I guess we know who the favorite parent is,” he joked as he played with her.

“Oh please. It only appears that way because you two are practically the same age.” He countered as he flipped up the top to the laptop.

Buck was about to respond when he saw what was on the screen. A family photo of him, Eddie, Chris, and Lina as a screensaver. A photo that was doing nothing but adding fuel to the fire that was going on inside his brain. He didn’t need to be wondering what they were doing when that photo was taken or when it was. Fortunately, Eddie rubbed his finger along the mouse pad and the picture switched to a calendar that had been pulled up, “you asked me earlier how I know about what Bobby was referring to, this was it. Apparently, there’s reminder’s kept of all the activities that are done. Which was great for figuring out some stuff, but, from what I’m seeing, it doesn’t provide any real answers for how we got here.” Great, he was keeping a level head, one of them needed to.

Buck moved in closer so he could read the screen. Eddie was right; it didn’t really do anything, but speak to the kind of life that they, well, Alternate Buck and Eddie he guessed, had. He saw the reminder that Chris was going to be with his grandmother, of the party that Bobby had mentioned earlier, and other things, like doctor’s appointments, school meetings, even date nights for the two of them. Though it wasn’t providing many concrete answers, it was giving him an idea and providing him with what he needed to give his theory more weight.

He was about to tell Eddie as such when Buck was distracted by an awful smell. Eddie looked at him, scrunching his nose, smelling it, too. They both turned there attention to Lina who was still as content as ever. “Look’s like someone needs a diaper change,” Eddie laughed. Buck immediately lifted the child in Eddie’s direction for him to handle it. “Really?”

“What? I have no idea how to change a diaper.” Buck was still holding out the child for Eddie to take.

Eddie stood and took her, “so let me get this straight: you had no problem carrying her, interacting with her, even feeding her, but now you want to be lost when it comes to changing a diaper?” Buck just shrugged his shoulders in response. Eddie sighed and went to take her back to the nursery. Buck was about to look through the laptop some more when he heard, “well, come on. I not doing this on my own every time she needs a diaper change,” Buck turned to see Eddie waiting for him expectantly.

They walked through their... the... damn it, their bedroom to the nursery. Eddie placed Celina on the changing table across from the crib and talked him through how to properly change her diaper. He also took her out of the plain pink onesie and into a red one that he’d found in the drawer. It appeared to be custom made and said LAFD across the front in silver, glittered letters. Buck decided then and their that any kid he had was going to own several of those.

“There we go, you feel better now that your all clean?” Eddie asked Celina. “Yeah, I bet you do.” He was playing with her feet as he spoke to her. Looking at them interact, Buck decided this was as good a time as any to tell Eddie what he thought they should do.

“So, Eddie I was thinking, you know how we’ve been thrust into this life for unknown reasons,” Eddie lifted his gaze away from Celina to look at him with curiosity, “whatever life Alternate Buck and Eddie was living we seem to be living it now.”

“Alternate Buck and Eddie?” Eddie questioned skeptically.

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve been calling them. Somebody had to be living this life before we got here or this is a pretty ballsy set up. Now I don’t know if this is some dream or alternate life or parallel universe that we’ve been sent to or what’s happening to our real world selves,” Buck paused for a moment, realizing what he’d said. He was so focused on what was going on here, that he never stopped to think about what was going on in their own world. “Oh god, what is happening to us out there. Are we seriously hurt? Do they think we’re dead? Where-”

“Buck! As much as I would love to deep dive into this with you,” the sarcasm oozed from his words, “I only have room in my brain for one existential crisis at a time, so can we please get back to this one,” Eddie tone was kind of harsh and left no room for argument. He obviously didn’t want to go down this rabbit hole and Buck couldn’t blame him, he’d, honestly, just scared the shit out of himself.

He shook his head, “right yeah, anyway,” he said as he was trying to get back to his original train of thought, “so I was thinking the best way to figure out what’s going on is to play along, figure out the plot. I’d like to believe there’s a reason why we’re here. Maybe whatever we’re supposed to be getting out of this is mixed in with all of this.” Buck looked at Eddie to find him thoughtful. He lifted Lina of the table and into his arms. “So what do you think?”

“I think you’ve watched way too many movies,” Buck went to respond to that and Eddie continued on, “but, the truth is, we have no idea what any of this is. So, yeah let’s do it. Might as well. Though, I still don’t believe this is some parallel universe or there’s some big lesson we should be learning here, we can use it to get answers. We can plan out how we’re going to do this. Who knows, someone may give us the clues we need to figure a way out of this.”

Buck was content with Eddie’s answer. They were no closer to figuring all of this out, but they had a game plan. It was a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re putt-putting along here.
> 
> Thoughts?


	3. Idiopathic Origins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back with another chapter! Please enjoy and hopefully it won’t take me as long with the next one, but this is me we’re taking about so...
> 
> In this one we do focus a little more on what’s going on with them in their world. Don’t worry, there’s cute baby moments with our boys.
> 
> Enjoy!

“We’re going to figure this out, Eddie,” he heard Buck. As much as he agreed with and believed Buck, what he’d said earlier was starting to take over his thoughts. His brain was wanting to deep dive through this now and think about everything he’d been pushing aside.

He watched as Buck leaned down to Celina’s level, entertaining her with a game of peak-a-boo. Every time Buck put his hands over his eyes, Celina would giggle and copy him. Even though, they’d just been introduced, Buck’s and his interactions with her screamed love and comfort for Celina, which was good, Eddie guesses, given that they’d decided to make the most out of their circumstances. That was plan. He just hoped it wouldn’t take long. He needed to get back to what was real and not get lost in the fantasy of what wasn’t. The adorable baby girl in his arms was not making that any easier.

“Hey, can you take her while I go make her a bottle?” Eddie said quickly. He hoped his tone didn’t sound as anxious to Buck as it did to him. He just needed a moment to step away, to think, and was not in the mood for any questions at the moment.

Buck squinted his eyes in thought, opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. After a second, he just said, “sure, man.” He held his hands out to Celina before saying, “come on, baby girl.”

“Thanks,” he threw over his shoulder as walked out of the nursery and bedroom and back towards the kitchen.

Once he made it to the kitchen he blew out a breath. He scrubbed a hand over his face and just took a second to close his eyes and take a couple of deep breathes. He could feel the situation starting to overwhelm and build to panic. After about 30 seconds, he opened his eyes and sat on one of the stools at the island. He was positive that the main source of his panic was the point that Buck had brought up earlier about not knowing what was happening in their world. What did happen to them? What was everyone thinking happened? Did they appear dead to those around them? As loathe as he was to admit it, the possibility of them being dead still wasn’t completely of the table. No. He wasn’t going to think like that. He couldn’t. He was going to figure this out. Christopher, his Christopher, needed him and he was going figure out how to get back to him.

XXXXX

Bobby sat in the uncomfortable, brown emergency department waiting room chair, staring at a spot he’d picked on the wall. He’d had no idea how much time had passed. He hadn’t payed any attention to time as all this was happening, but it felt as if it had been hours. It probably hadn’t been, but it felt like it. The moment the ambulances arrived at the hospital, Buck and Eddie were ushered away and he was told to take a seat and wait.

This whole situation was way too adjacent to the memories he’d rather not think about, but his brain was busy supplying them anyway. He mostly remembered the feeling of helplessness, looking at his children, looking at Marcy and knowing their wasn’t a damn thing he could do about what was happening. Just sit back and watch it take place. That’s how he felt now. Rising from his seat, he walked out of the waiting room, hovering near the nurse’s station to get a closer look at the room Buck and Eddie were in. There were multiple doctors and nurses checking them over, giving commands to each other. He signed, resigning that all he could do was keep repeating to himself that everything was going to be fine.

He was slightly startled out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t even have to turn around to know who it was. Her familiar dark tulip scent hit his senses and, without taking his eyes off the scene in front of him, he put his hand on top of her warm on. The feel of her soft skin, as his thumb rubbed circles in the back of her hand was an instant comfort to him; the type he always felt with her presence. She squeezed his shoulder to heighten her comforting touch.

He lifted the hand off his shoulder and turned to face his wife. She stayed silent as she step into his, wrapping his arms around him, and laid her head against his chest. Both of his arms settled on the small of her back. He’d often make jokes about how short she was compared to him, but he loved the height difference between them. She fit against him so perfectly. After a moment, she lifted her head to look at him, neither letting the other go. He looked down at her, knowing his eyes were giving off a look as emotionally tired as he was. Her eyes held empathetic concern as she gave him a sympathetic smile. It was no secret that he hated hospitals, she knew that more than anyone.

“They’re going to be fine.”

“I know.” Athena had a certain look when she was feeling something out. Her eyes squinted and her nose would scrunch when she was focusing. She was doing it now, trying to see if he was telling the truth, if he was really okay. He kissed her forehead, “stop giving me that look, I’m fine. I promise.”

“What look?” Athena asked. He raised a brow at her. “Fine.” She said as she slipped out of their hold. As they stepped away from each other, he could once again hear the beeps of monitors and pieces of all the conversations happening around them, everything that their moment had tuned out.

They stood there, looking at where Buck and Eddie lay. “Did Hen call you?” He knew he hadn’t.

“Yeah, she did.” 

They watch as the doctors, nurses, and medics started to leave them and returned to the station or tended to other patients. Thinking it was now okay for them to see them, they walked the short distance the short distance, through the glass double doors into the room. Buck and Eddie were separated by a thin curtain, lying on similar beds, with oxygen masks on donning their faces. Gone were the uniforms replaced by hospital gowns. They looked peaceful, very still, almost like they were in a deep, restful sleep. Maybe they were.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Townsend, one of the attending physicians for emergency department this evening.” The young, British accented doctor greeted as she walked in with a bright smile. Her bright green were a contrast to the room as she typed something on the tablet in her hand. “Are you here for Mr. Buckley or Mr. Diaz?”

“Both.” They answered simultaneously. “I’m LAFD captain Robert Nash and this is my wife Athena.” He introduced. “How are they?”

“Good, very good actually all things considered. With them both being unconscious it’s more difficult to gauge the extent of their injuries, but as it appears, neither of them have any significant life threatening injuries.” Bobby felt Athena grab his arm. “There was soot in their noses and in Mr. Buckley’s throat and I heard a bit of wheezing from both of them, signs of smoke inhalation so I started them both on oxygen, but they are showing no signs of not being able to breath on their own. Due to some pretty signification swelling it’s likely that Mr. Diaz may have sustained a broken right humerus and the right side of his clavicle. X-ray should be here soon so we’ll know more.” The doctor stood between Buck and Eddie, looking at them both. “There were no outward signs of head injuries, no signs of infection, their vitals are excellent, other than a couple of scraps and bruises,” she flipped her long braids over her shoulder and leaned down to examine Buck, then Eddie, opening their eyes, and shining her light into them. “Preliminary, they are okay. We’ll know more when their test results come back.” There was an uncertainty in her voice, Bobby was almost certain that he’d heard it.

As if hearing his thoughts, Athena asked, “but?”

The doctor sighed and moved to stand directly in front of them, “I’m worried about how long they’ve been out. With it going on almost an hour since their initial down time, it’s striking me as peculiar that neither has woken up yet. Leading me to believe they may have head injuries more severe than my original thinking. I’ve ordered CTs of both of their heads. And I should know more soon.” There were a couple of beeps and she pulled a phone out of her shirt pocket. “I apologize, but I’m urgently needed for another patient,” she said as she pocketed the device again. Before she could speak further, two women wearing black scrubs came into the room, “and that’ll be radiology.” They stood back as they prepared to wheel Buck and Eddie out of the room. “The results should be back soon. As I know more, so will you. We’ll do everything we can,” she offered another bright smile. Though impersonal and practiced, it was warm. He appreciated her trying to be reassuring.

“Thank you, doctor.”

She nodded, “if you need anything just ask.” She walked out of the room and off to where ever else she was needed.”

“You know, between the two of them, they’ve survived multiple dangerous calls, the military, being crushed by a fire truck and enough personal shit to put anyone down. I refuse to believe anything is going to happen to those boys. They’re too hardheaded to let it.” Athena said.

Bobby prayed she was right.

XXXXX

After he finished fixing the bottle, Eddie headed back upstairs towards the nursery. He stopped at the bathroom first to gather himself. Putting the bottle down on the counter, he gave himself a once over in the mirror, turned on there water and splashed some on his face. He took one of the small towels off the rack and wiped his face. He slowly lowered the towel and really looked at himself, making sure all signs of his previous panic attack were gone. He didn’t need Buck worrying about him when they had so much other stuff to be worried about. He would be okay. He just needed to remember that they were going to figure this out. They just needed to make a solid plan and stick to it. They were going to get back.

Eddie sighed, only feeling slightly better after his mental pep talk. He school his features and compartmentalizing his thoughts He put the towel back in it’s place on the rack, picked up the bottle and walked toward the bedroom. Upon walking up to the nursery, he saw Buck lying on the lavender carpet next to Celina in the middle of what was sounding like an interesting conversation.

“You seem to really like that little penguin guy you got there, he must be your favorite?” Buck asked her. He could make out the word “yeah,” followed by a couple of babbles in response. Buck nodded in response. “When did you get him?” Another couple of excited babbles. “Sounds like it’s been a long time.” Celina pushed the stuffed animal in Buck’s direction, indicating that she wanted him to take it. “You want me to take him?” Celina nodded and grabbed another one of the towns around them. “Oh, you want me to play with you, okay.” Eddie had to smile, the scene melting through the wall he’d just carefully crafted. He leaned against the door frame as Buck asked, “how long do you think dada Eddie is just gonna stand there and look at us?” 

Eddie was slightly taken back as Buck’s back had been to him the whole time. He walked further in the room and sat next to Buck. “Dada Eddie?” He asked as he handed Celina the bottle. She abandoned the toys and took it.

“Yeah, I just thought, for her sake, it’d be easier to just call ourselves Dada Buck and Dada Eddie around her. So no one has to figure out what to call the other and she knows as long as she says dada she’ll get one of us. No confusion,” Buck smiled at him confidentially, as if he just said the most logical thing ever. Eddie made a non committal sound and nodded, that was fine with him. Buck must have noticed something, because he asked, “are you okay?”

Damn it, he thought he was hiding a bit better, “yeah, dude. I’m fine. Actually, I was thinking that we should probably start looking for those phones and start planning how we’re going to go about figuring this thing out,” he indicated towards the baby, “she’s been feed, changed, and shown a lot of attention. So she should be content until she’s ready for a nap.”

“Okay, come on,” Buck said quickly as he got off the floor and pulled Eddie up with him. Eddie was confused. “Alright Celina, we’ll leave you to play will dada and I have a little chat.” Taking him by the hand, Buck lead them out of the nursery and into the bedroom. He left the door cracked, where they’d still be able to hear her.

Eddie stayed silent as he watched Buck go grab something off the dresser and held it up. It was two cellphones and even from the short distance between he could see they were exactly like the ones they already owned. “While you were downstairs, I found them in them in the baby bag over there,” Eddie saw the light grey bag near the closet. Buck tossed him his phone. Pressing the power button, the screen illuminated and he gasped at the photo he saw on the lock screen. He was really tired of being thrown for loops by this... whatever this was. He saw himself, or not himself, down one one one knee, in front of a shocked buck, who had a hand over his mouth, holding out a blue ring box. This was day that he asked Buck to marry him. 

“I know dude, I saw it, too,” Buck stood next to him and showed him the lock screen of his phone, “this was mine,” Buck was holding him in a tight embrace while they both smiled at whoever took the photo. They were in their dress blues. Eddie closed his eyes against his racing thoughts. Oh all the setups that could have been concocted it had been so... “well, it seems we’re- well they’re- certainly in love, if all of this is clue.” That. In all the time they’ve known each, he was certain that he loved Buck, but not in this way. He’s never thought about him like this. At least not consciously. At least he doesn’t think, he hasn’t. Has he?

More importantly, has Buck?

“Try your passcode. It works.” He wasn’t surprised by that, he and Buck told each other the passcodes to their phone a while ago. Best friends did that right? He typed the code to his phone and found all sorts of apps that were knew to him. He did see the missed calls from Athena and Bobby. He read a text from Abuela asking if Chris could spend the night. He sent a text back saying that it was fine. While he still in messages he took a look around looking for anything. There were just messages pertaining to the kids, from family, friends, some he recognized most he didn’t. The message between him and Buck, though filled with more declarations of love, weren’t that much different than the conversations they normally had on a regular basis. He was trying really hard not to think too much into. Too bad it wasn't working.

XXXXX

“Tired Doc?” Her nurse, Emily, asked as she flopped down the wheeled chair in front her computer.

“More than,” she said as she rolled up to her computer “okay, let’s see what we got here.” Logan Townsend’s eyes scanned the computer to see where she was with her patients. “Oh good, Mr. Buckley and Mr. Diaz’s test results are back,” she said with slight excitement. She took pride in the care of all of her patients, but those two were giving her the most worry right now.

She slide over to the over to the screen that house the lab results. She pulled Buckley’s first and squinted her eyes, not liking what she was seeing. When she pulled up Diaz’s, giving her the exact same results. She switched back and forth between both, pouring over them, changing the views, resolution, everything to make sure she wasn’t missing something.

“Hey Patricia, can you look at this? I just need a second set of eyes,” she asked the physician sitting behind her.

“Sure.” She walked over and peered over her shoulder.

“Okay this is the first one.”

Patricia scanned it for a moment. “Okay.”

“And this is the second one.”

She scanned it and said, “alright.”

“What do you see?” Logan asked as turned in her chair to face her colleague.

“Nothing significant, both presented as normal CT scans of the head.”

“That’s the problem, those are the head CTs of my unconscious patients.”

“Oh,” Patricia said knowingly, “so, they’re showing no signs of hemorrhaging and no hematoma. I didn’t see any signs of a contusion either. I mean, that's good, but, well, have you done a D-dimer, to see if there might be clotting somewhere?”

“One of them has a history of blood clots, so I went ahead and ordered it on both. I got those results back a little earlier, nothing. Normal. Both of their white cell counts are less than 10, ruling out infection being the cause. All of their lab and blood is within normal limits. They were breathing the entire time, so no hypoxia.”

“Vitals?”

“I just checked them about 20-ish minutes ago, after I finish splinting Mr. Diaz's injuries. Other than slight, and I do mean sight, tachycardia in Mr. Diaz, both of their vitals were still with in normal ranges.” Emily answered.

“And how long has it been?” Patricia asked

“Since the initial onset and now, just over two hours.” Logan said warily.

“Anything in the medical history?” Patricia thought for a second, “based on the way this is going, I can guess what you’re answer is going to be,” Logan gave her an annoyed look, “Thought so. So, we’ve got two healthy men who are unconscious following a traumatic event with no medical explanation, almost seeming idiopathic. Ick. Looks like you’ve got a the tough case of the day.” Logan held her head down and sighed as Patricia gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulders. “The brain’s a fickle organ. There may be something else here that we are seeing. Call neurology, Dr. Malee, for a consult. Something’s telling they’re gonna be an admit.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.” She loved the challenge that difficult patients presented, the ones that made her think, really have to showcase her skill set. There were times that patients managed to stump her, today was definitely one of those days. Logan hated to admit it, but she had no idea what's going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like everyone’s confused. What’s going on?! I think I know, do you? Thoughts?
> 
> My face claim for Dr. Logan Townsend is Helen Sharpe from New Amsterdam (Freema Agyeman) because she’s amazing. And hopefully I didn’t go overboard with the medical jargon at the end.


	4. Here and Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not even going to waste time with excuses. Let’s just say adult life sucks sometimes.
> 
> On with the story, with a chapter that’s focused completely on them.
> 
> You guys are amazing! I still wanna thank you so much for all the interest still being taken into this little tale. 
> 
> Enjoy!

As they stood there, Buck took in Eddie’s expressions. The knit of Eddie’s eyebrows, causing his forehead to wrinkle, his top lip worrying his bottom, the super slight tremble of his hand. He knew Eddie well enough to know when he was on the verge of having a crisis and he was having one. Eddie wasn’t overt with his feelings, never wanting anyone to worry about him or express things outwardly. Buck knew him too well for all of that, though. He didn’t blame him in the slightest. This was overwhelming. He was surprised that he wasn’t freaking out more. Should he be? He’s stuck in a dream-like world where he is married to his best friend and he’s a father to a beautiful baby. And Christopher. He would be a father to him too, right? He’d have to be. He was, if all the photos he was coming across had anything to do with it.

All that aside, as he scrolled through his phone, he was allowing himself the space to finally think about what was happening here and how he felt about it. Buck looked through all the messages between him and Eddie and noticed something: there was very little change in how they normally talked. There were more declarations of love and cutesy, couple shit mixed in there, but that was to be expected. Moreover, he realized that the more intimate stuff was what he’s thought about saying to Eddie. At one time or another. But held back. For one reason or another.  _“Well, it seems we’re- well they’re- certainly in love…”_ Was he- was he in love with Eddie?

Buck’s eyes widened in horror at the realization. That’s when all of it started to hit him. The messages. The beautiful house. He’s always dreamed of having a home like this. The perfect looking neighborhood. He always imagined when he settled down it would be in a nice suburb like this. Even Celina. Though he didn’t put very much into the thought at the time, he remembered wanting a daughter as his first kid if he got the chance. Bobby and Athena being “grandparents” to her. Was that why he wasn’t really bothered by any of this? Was he the reason for all of this? Oh god. Was all this crazy shit his doing?

The faint sound of Celina’s whimpers broke him from his thoughts. He looked up to see that Eddie had noticed it, too. He avoided eye contact with him as he said, “I’ve got her,” a little too quickly. He didn’t wait for a response as he tossed his phone on the bed, passed Eddie, and headed back towards the nursery, thankful for the distraction from his rapidly deteriorating thoughts.

He pushed the door open a little further to see Celina still in the middle of the floor. Her empty bottle lay abandoned next to her as she was reaching out to him, clutching her stuffed penguin in her hand. He took the couple of steps over to her and picked her up. “What’s wrong baby girl?” He ran a crooked finger across her cheek to clear away the tears that had fallen. “You’ve eaten, so you hungry. Eddie just changed you so you shouldn’t need changing, at least not yet,” he put the back of his hand to her forehead, “you’re not getting a fever,” Celina put her head on his chest and smiled up at him with Eddie’s brown eyes, rubbing them. “Oh, I get it, you you’re getting sleepy aren’t you?. She shook her head in response. “Yeah, you are,” he kissed the top of her head as he carried her out of the room.

He knew, realistically, that he shouldn’t become attached to Celina. Unfortunately -or fortunately, if Buck were looking at this in ways he knows he shouldn’t-, he became attached the moment he laid eyes on her. “I think I might be a little jealous,” Eddie joked lightly as Buck sat next to him settling Celina on his lap. Buck gave a small smile in response allowed the thought to settle in his mind for a moment, before pushing to the back of his mind before it led down a road that he wasn’t ready to really go down any further just yet.

“Did you find anything on your end?” Buck asked, changing the subject back to the matter at hand. He knew there was no way he was telling Eddie about his earlier… revelation. He knew there was no point. There was no way Eddie would… no.

“Yes and no. The pictures and messages just confirmed what we already established early on: we’re married with kids. The good news is that our family and friends are really supportive.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less.”

“I noticed something though. I didn’t really pay attention to it at first, but all of this seems to be happening in real time. Like today’s date is the same as it was before all of this happened."

Buck realized that he never thought about it. He didn’t pay much attention to time and what it meant. “Huh, that’s odd, you would think with all that’s been presented it would be set sometime in the future or something.” Again, that was bringing up thoughts Buck didn’t want to dive into. Was this a future he wanted? Was this the life he wanted?

“I said the same thing. I’m going to take that to mean that this is all some weird, shared lucid dream that we’ve both go trapped in and not,” Eddie paused and looked down at Celina, “anything else,” Eddie’s eyes met his again, “that still doesn’t explain this set up, but we’re probably never gonna get the answer to that.” Buck licked his lips in nervousness. Eddie squinted his eyes, “unless you know something I don’t,” he trailed off.

“No, I’m just as lost as you are.” It wasn’t a complete lie. It wasn’t a lie at all, really. Buck was lost, but for completely different reasons than Eddie, most likely. “But, we’ve got a plan, right? Let’s just stick to that and see what happens. We’ll be out of this soon. Remember, I’ve seen this movie before, they always wake up in the end.” Buck knew his smile was forced and the words didn’t even sound convincing to him.

By the looks of it Eddie didn’t seem completely convinced either. “Yeah, I agree.” Thankfully he decided to let it drop.

Buck looked down at Lina, still rubbing her tired eyes and fighting the oncoming sleep, when an idea popped into his head. “Hey. How about we take Celina for a walk around the neighborhood. It should put her to sleep and give us a chance to really canvas the neighborhood.” He could see Eddie was thinking about the idea. “Just around the block or something, maybe we could find out some clues about where we are, see if we recognize the area stuff like that...” he trailed off, knowing that putting Celina to sleep and canvassing the neighborhood weren’t the only reasons he wanted to take a walk. He also thought the fresh air would do him some good, clear his head and stop his wayward thoughts.

Buck looked at Eddie’s neutral expression, trying to gauge his reaction. “Yeah, that’s a good idea, let’s do it. I think I saw her stroller downstairs.” Eddie said already rising to his feet.

Buck did the same, settling a slightly squirmy Celina on his hip. As he was walking towards the door, he spotted one of Celina’s pacifiers on the dresser. He detoured to grab it, sticking the blue and yellow thing in her mouth, which she acceptedhappily. She lifted her head and smiled at him around the pacifier. “Just when I thought, you couldn’t get more adorable...” he purposefully trailed off, eyes lingering at the photos that sat there. Especially the one of them and Celina when she was smaller. The photo had somehow taken on a different meaning since he’d seen it the first time. Where was it taken? It was had to deduce by just looking at it? How did they end up with Celina? Did they adopt or a surrogate? Was it...

“Buck, you coming?” Eddie’s voice, coming from downstairs and slightly muffled from the distance, broke his thoughts. Buck, shook his head, clearing the thoughts and pushing them down to the furthest corner of his mind, the way he done since they’d arrived here. Probably longer than that, now that he thought about it.

Buck exited the room with Celina and made his way towards the stairs. As soon as he hit the top of the stairs, he could feel Eddie’s eyes on him. He met his eyes as he walking, giving him a convincing smile.

“I almost thought you changed your mind.” Eddie joked lightly. “What were you doing up there?”

“Oh, um, I had thought about bringing her bag with us, then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized, that we don’t need it, we’re just going for a walk around the block.” Buck lied smoothly as walked over to the stroller that Eddie had pulled near the door and bent to place her in it. He could feel Eddie’s footsteps behind him.

For what could only be described as Instinct, Eddie bent down to make sure she was strapped in and comfortable. Buck appreciated the gesture, knowing that he hadn’t really done it much before and Eddie knew that. Though he was oddly comfortable caring for her, he still appreciated Eddie’s expertise in this area.

As Eddie stood back up, Buck went to grab the handle to the stroller when Eddie moved his hands out of the way, “I think you’ve hogged her enough for today, I’ll push.”

“I haven’t been hogging her.” Buck’s tone was playfully indignant as he went to open the door.

“Bulls- b.s you haven’t.”

“Not my fault that you think that. I mean favorite parent is a hard job, but someone has to do it.” He knew his grin was shit eating as he did an exaggerated hand gesture leading Eddie out of the door.

Eddie’s eyes rolled so back far Buck could see the whites of them, “oh come off of it. I already told you that was only because the two of you were the same age.” Buck heard the words as he closed the door behind him. He didn’t even feel the urge to lock it.

The mid afternoon sun was bright and the cerulean sky was crystal clear. Buck took a second to take a deep breath letting the breezy air fill his lungs, already relaxing him. Afterwards, he caught up the Eddie quickly as they strolled to the end of the driveway. “What was that, couldn’t hear you over the sound of your jealousy.” Buck bumped his shoulder. As they reached the end of the driveway they stopped. Buck looked left and right, unsure of which way to go. He guessed it didn’t matter.

“Let’s go this way,” Eddie pointed his thumb toward the left, “it seems like a good place to start, plus if we’re rounding the block we’ll come back up the opposite side anyway.”

Buck couldn’t argue with that and just shrugged in agreement. As they walked, he and Eddie fell into a comfortable silence and just took in their surroundings trying to make sense of it all. It was clear that neither of them were recognizing the area. They’d covered a lot of ground through their jobs and had gotten to know the city pretty well, or they thought they had, because none of this was looking familiar. But it’s burned into Buck’s brain now and he made no promises not to look it up when they got back home.

“You recognizing anything about this neighborhood?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

As the continued to walk, Buck also found himself struggling with how domestic this all felt. He was taking a walk in his neighborhood with his husband and their baby. He didn’t think shit could get anymore domestic if it tried. And he had a feeling that it would try before this was all over with.

“Hey guys. Out for an afternoon stroll?” 

Buck and Eddie stopped, Buck hadn’t noticed him approaching. The man that greeted them leaned down to greet Celina. Buck had an irrational, instinctual urge to stand between them protecting her. Buck could see out of his peripheral vision that Eddie was a bit wary as well. Buck’s face softened as heard Celina’s babbles. She seemed to recognize him.

As the man stood up straight, Buck was able to take him in a little bit better. He was a little taller than Buck with a medium build and wore glasses. His brown skin was brightened by the sun as the sweat covering it glistened. By the athletic gear he wore it was safe to assume he’d been exercising recently. The smile of his face was sincere and unassuming, almost infectious. He didn’t look like anyone Buck knew, not off the top of his head, anyway.

“Hey,” Buck waved at him, “just doing a little walking, getting a little fresh air. Seeing if the ride will put the baby to sleep.”

“Glad to see you’re finally taking my advice. I told you. It works wonders for me and Eric with our little monsters.” He responded with a fondness of a man with love for his family.”

“Uh, yeah, we are.”’ Eddie chimed in, playing along with ease, “she just doesn’t seem to want to fall asleep today.”

“Happens. If the walk doesn’t work, which, full disclosure, doesn’t always, you could always take he to the park, tire her out that way. Perk of having a park in the neighborhood.” The looked down at the fitness tracker on his wrist, “I should be getting home, my night to cook dinner and I still need to grocery shop. I’ll see you guys.”

“Bye, dude, good seeing you.” Buck said, not being able to think of anything else.

They watched as the man walked a few steps, turned and said as he walked backwards down the sidewalk, “we still on to get the kids together for a play date on Friday?”

“Wouldn’t miss it!” Eddie answered earnestly before Buck could even register the question. The man nodded in response as he turned and continued walking in the direction of his home. Buck still not knowing what to make of what just took place, turned to Eddie. “Before you even ask, the play date he was talking about was on the calendar I showed you.” He really needed to pay more attention to everything. “Since he mentioned Eric, he must be Callum. It mentioned a play date with Callum and Eric.”

“This is crazy, I am now in a world where my life is all about play dates and schedules and putting my kid down for a nap and making sure my husband eats.” Buck paused at that. It was the first time he’d actually referred to Eddie as his husband.

“Welcome to marriage and parenthood.” Eddie started to walk again. “Hopefully we won’t be here long enough for you to get too used to it.” Buck knew it was said with humor, but he also knew that Eddie meant what he said for obvious reasons. This wasn’t their life, no reason to treat it like it was no more than necessary.

The pang in his chest didn’t go unnoticed.

They fell back into that comfortable silence as they continued their walk. As they neared the end of the block, Buck saw the park Callum had mentioned nearby. It was an ordinary park, with adults, kids, and pets scattered around, doing various activities and a brightly colored playground with a few kids and parents on it in the middle. “Hey Eddie stop for a second.” He bent down to check on Celina, who didn’t look any closer to sleep than she did when they left the house. He knew they hadn’t been walking long, but he was starting to think that the park was a better option than just a simple walk around the block. “Do you just wanna take her to the park instead, let her tire herself out there?”

Eddie shrugged his shoulders, “yeah, sure. Not that far from the house anyway.”

They crossed the street and the grassy area and made it to a nearby bench area. Eddie took Celina out of the stroller and over to the swing set. Buck didn’t join them, much more content on sitting and watching them interact. He had a strong urge to take out his phone and film as Eddie pushed on the swing, but he knew he probably wouldn’t be able to keep it anyway. So, he settled on locking the memory in his brain, hoping that this worked both ways and they’d leave here still remembering what happened her when they- when they got back to their world.

Buck felt the beginning of guilt. Eddie was completely focused on getting back, again, for obvious reasons. Only humoring this world so he could figure out to get back to theirs. What he should be doing too. But here he was getting lost in the what-ifs and what could be’s instead of focusing on what is. And what this is, isn’t real and probably never would be. The thought filled him with dread, but he needed to remember that.

Buck began to refocus on Eddie and Lina playing when a voice next to him said, “hello Evan,” startling him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn’t let Eddie have all the existential crisis, could I? And I’ve been ready to dive into how the boys really feel about their surroundings.
> 
> Sorry if it’s a little rough around the edges, but I’ve been dying to get this out and getting back into the thought process behind this story hasn’t been easy. Also, excuse any errors, hope it's nothing to glaring.
> 
> Thoughts?? Comments (and kudos) feed the beast!


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